The world’s biggest pharmaceutical companies mostly saw growth in 2024 but 2025 promises to be more of a mixed bag with headwinds including losses of exclusivity, Medicare Part D redesign and challenges in the Chinese market.
Pfizer was the biggest company in the world by pharmaceutical sales in 2024. Among the rest of the top five there was change, however, as Merck & Co climbed above Johnson & Johnson and AbbVie to take second place, and Novartis was replaced in fifth place by Roche.
Among the top 12, the biggest climbers were AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, with Roche also experiencing double-digit growth.
The world’s biggest pharmaceutical companies mostly saw growth in 2024 but 2025 promises to be more of a mixed bag with headwinds including losses of exclusivity, Medicare Part D redesign and challenges in the Chinese market.
The nod will help unlock a national market for the partners’ Dupert (fulzerasib) in which roughly 50,000 people are expected to be newly diagnosed with lung cancer harboring the KRAS G12C mutation in 2025. Meanwhile, two other homegrown rivals are also closing in on marketing clearances in China.
2030 sales forecasts for Novo’s obesity hope are an order of magnitude larger than its closest rival among 2025’s expected debutantes.
Tarsus Pharmaceuticals is putting more sales and marketing heft behind its novel eyelid disease therapy, Xdemvy, to capitalize on a solid start in a previously untapped market.
As clinical trials grow more complex, execution pressures are changing where and how evidence is collected.
Lilly's first Phase III triplet win opens the door to a label expansion in BTK-pretreated CLL, with analysts suggesting Jaypica could attain blockbuster status. However, the window to capitalize may be brief as next-generation BTK degraders close in with head-to-head trials.
Lilly's first Phase III triplet win opens the door to a label expansion in BTK-pretreated CLL, with analysts suggesting Jaypica could attain blockbuster status. However, the window to capitalize may be brief as next-generation BTK degraders close in with head-to-head trials.
